3 cup rice (ceela/aged rice)
1 2lb chicken cut into pieces
½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
½ teaspoon big cardamom
2 -3 pieces of cardamom
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 cinnamon stick
Few cloves
Pinch of fennogreek
Pinch of black pepper
1 teaspoon Coriander powder
1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
1 teaspoon Crushed pepper
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon salt
Shan Sindi biryani masala
One large onion cut into slices
Fresh green chili s
Ginger cut Julian style
4-5 teaspoon Ginger garlic paste
½ cup yogurt
½ cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon Kewra water (essence) (optional)
2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Food coloring
Step 1: Fry onion in oil until golden brown
Step 2: When the onion is golden brown, add the Coriander powder, Red chili powder, Crushed pepper, Paprika, and salt
Step 3: Add the cumin seeds, regular & big cardamom, fennel seeds, cinnamon sticks, cloves, fenugreek, black pepper, and some of the Shan masala.
Step 4: Cook for few seconds, and then add the ginger garlic paste cook for another 30 seconds until the oil starts separating
Step 5: Once the oil starts separating, add the chicken. Mix it well.
Step 6: Cook the chicken until the oil starts separating. Do not cover the pot with the lid. This is so there is no steam inside the pot.
Step 7: Soak the rice in the water for 30 min, before boiling the rice, rinse the rice 2-3 times
Step 8: When the oil is separated, add the tomato paste, cook it until the oil separates again, about 8-10 minutes Again, do not put a lid. Or if you want to put a lid, put it so only half of the pot is covered
Step 9: While the chicken is cooking, take another pot fill it with water, and add 3 teaspoons of salt. Also, add one teaspoon of kewra water. This is the best time to put it in, but you can also add it on the top of the rice. We will boil the rice in this pot
Step 10: When the oil is separated, add the yogurt. Cook for 10 minutes or until oil is separated again. Make sure the chicken doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot
Step 11: Add the rice into the water when you see steam in the water
Step 12: When the chicken is dry, and there is no water, the chicken is done. We will now add the remainder of the Shan Biryani Masala. We will cook the Chicken for only 1-2 minutes, and then we will turn off the stove
Step 13: When the rice is 90% boiled, we will strain it. Make sure there is no water. We will let it rest for 2 min so all the water drains
Step 14: Now we will add half of the rice in a pot, and then we will add the chicken.
Step 15: On top of the chicken we will add the lemon juice or fresh lemon juice. Also we will garnish the chicken with ginger, and fresh green chilies
Step 16: We will now add the remaining rice, and on top of the rice we will put the kewra water, about one teaspoon. (Do not put kewra again if you have already put it before)
Step 17: Add the food coloring. You can use dry food coloring or drops. In addition, you can use orange, red, and green colors. Put more lemon juice on top of the food color.
Step 18: In the biryani, poke 4-5 holes with a fork to let the steam out
Step 19: We will put a paper towel on the lid, and cover the biryani and cook the biryani on low heat for about 20 minutes.
Step 20: After 10 minutes, we will mix the biryani, we will cook it for 10 more minutes.
Step 21: We will mix the biryani again, and then turn of the stove, and then let it rest for 10 – 15 minutes
Step 22: Our biryani is ready! Now all you have to do is enjoy!
